page_title: Somali Civil War
section_title: Fall of Barre government (1986–91)
hierarchical_section_title: Somali Civil War / Fall of Barre government (1986–91)
caption_attribution_description: English: Military portrait of Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, Somalia's longest-serving President. Deutsch: Mohamed Siad Barre, (* 1910 oder 1919 † 1995), somalischer Offizier, der 1969 durch einen Militärputsch Präsident Somalias wurde.
context_page_description: The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. By 1988–1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.
  Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum and turmoil that followed, particularly in the south. In 1990–92, customary law temporarily collapsed due to the fighting. This precipitated the arrival of UNOSOM I UN military observers in July 1992, followed by larger peacekeeping forces. Factional fighting continued in the south. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state". The UN withdrew in 1995, having incurred significant casualties, but no central authority had yet been reestablished. After the central government's collapse, there was some return to customary and religious law in most regions.
context_section_description: In May 1986, Mohamed Siad Barre suffered serious injuries in a car crash near Mogadishu, when the car transporting him smashed into the back of a bus during a heavy rainstorm. He was treated in a hospital in Saudi Arabia for head injuries, broken ribs and shock for a month. Lieutenant General Mohamed Ali Samatar, then Vice President, served as de facto head of state for the next several months. Although Barre managed to recover enough to present himself for reelection to a seven-year term on December 23, 1986, his poor health and advanced age led to speculation about who would succeed him. Possible contenders included his son-in-law General Ahmed Suleiman Abdille, then the Minister of the Interior, in addition to Samatar.
  In an effort to hold on to power, Barre's ruling Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) became increasingly totalitarian and arbitrary. This caused opposition to his government to grow. Barre tried to quell the unrest by abandoning appeals to nationalism, relying more and more on his own inner circle, and exploiting historical clan animosities. By the mid-1980s, more resistance movements supported by Ethiopia's communist Derg administration had sprung up across the country. Barre responded by ordering punitive measures against those he perceived as supporting the guerrillas, especially in the north. The clampdown included bombing of cities, with the northwestern administrative center of Hargeisa, a Somali National Movement (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988.
  In 1990, as fighting intensified, Somalia's first President, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, and about 100 other Somali politicians signed a manifesto advocating reconciliation. A number of the signatories were subsequently arrested. Barre's heavy-handed tactics further strengthened the appeal of the various rebel movements, although these groups' only common goal was the overthrow of his government. It also played a major role in developing piracy in Somalia.
  In the north, fighting continued between SNM rebels and heavily armed pro-government militia in places like Awdal. In January 1991, in one of the final episodes of the civil war in the north, SNM militia gave chase to retreating government forces (26th division) to the town of Dilla, where a battle took place and the town was destroyed. SNM militia then continued into Borama, the capital and largest town of Awdal, but the SNM leadership withdrew units within 24 hours to allow discussions to take place without the threat of occupation. By February 4, SNM's control extended to the entire north of Somalia, and all prisoners and pro-government ex-soldiers were released and ordered to return to their regions of origin (mainly Ethiopia), except for Hawiye ex-soldiers and ex-civil servants, who were permitted to remain in Burco since their lives would have been at risk if they had traveled through hostile pro-Barre country on their return to Mogadishu.
caption: Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Council and President of Somalia.
exif: {"Image Artist": "0000", "Image ExifOffset": "2128", "Image XPAuthor": "0000", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}